The annual theme of Helsinki Design Week is Celebration
Next year marks the 20th anniversary of Helsinki Design Week. The year-long festivities will welcome both the local community and international friends from over the years. The main exhibition, Designing Happiness, explores how happiness is designed.
Helsinki Design Week will take place in September for the 20th time. The theme, Celebration, offers visitors and contributors to the city-wide festival a chance to pause and raise a toast to achievements, solutions, and opportunities. Celebrations are significant moments that sharpen our awareness of time and provide an opportunity to reflect on the past and contemplate the future.
In uncertain times, unexpected events disrupt the normal flow of life, causing fear and concern. Crises expose vulnerabilities, prompting swift action and revealing the fragility of systems we take for granted. Celebrations, on the other hand, are deliberate pauses to reflect on achievements or milestones and, most importantly, to project hope towards the future. They create a space to envision possibilities and renewal, fostering a sense of belonging and shared joy while recognising continuity and growth, even in challenging times.
A wide range of events, exhibitions, and encounters have been seen over the two decades of the festival. “I can vividly recall numerous individual moments at HDW that sparked joy and new insights. That’s also the goal of announcing our annual theme: to highlight perspectives, topics, and issues we believe are needed. In 2025, we need optimism,” says festival founder and director Kari Korkman.
Curator, researcher, and educator Anniina Koivu has been invited to curate the main exhibition for the anniversary year. The Designing Happiness exhibition celebrates Helsinki Design Week’s birthday by exploring the question: how can happiness be designed?
“Much has been said about the happiness of Nordic countries, but can happiness actually be designed? What tools exist to help foster optimism, create joy, and cultivate a sense of togetherness?” asks Anniina Koivu. “As early as the 18th century, ‘happiness’ was defined as an individual’s contribution to society, rather than mere self-gratification. By viewing happiness as a collective endeavour rather than an individual pursuit, we can better understand its role. Indeed, shared positivity seems to be the invisible glue that binds people together. By investigating the full range of happiness – from exceptional moments to the everyday, from balloons and fireworks to parades and community life and welfare – the exhibition invites visitors to reflect, be inspired, and ultimately, leave with a smile.”
The anniversary event welcomes international guests, along with new and old friends, to Helsinki to share the celebrations. Additionally, a symposium for the creative industry is planned, organized in collaboration with selected partners.
The theme Celebration concludes the festival’s thematic trilogy, which began in 2023 with Once Upon a Time (read more here) and continues in 2024 with Underneath (read more here).
You are warmly invited to join Helsinki Design Week’s birthday celebrations. The open call for programme proposals begins on 19 February. More information on partnership opportunities is available here. HDW will take place from 5–14 September across the city.